Suburban family says law enforcement is targeting them because they are Muslim

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OAKBROOK TERRACE, Ill. -- It started with a traffic stop. Now, a suburban family believes they are being targeted because they are Muslim.

30-year-old Abdulrahman Abed was driving a rented white Mercedes SUV and his 16-year-old sister was a passenger when they were pulled over by an Illinois State Trooper in Oakbrook Terrace, Tuesday evening.

“I feel like I was abused and mistreated because of my scarf,” said the 16-year old, who did not want to be identified. “We parked in the parking lot when state police put on his lights and sirens and said you did not stop at the stop sign,” she said.

Her brother got out of the car. The traffic stop escalated. The trooper then asked her to get out. She says she refused because she was scared.

“I know my rights as a citizen. I said, 'What is the probable cause here?'”

She says she was physically removed from the vehicle and was taken to the hospital in police custody, panicked and bruised. She was cited for obstructing a peace officer.

Her brother was taken to the DuPage County Jail and is now facing a long list of charges.

“He was saying, 'Don't touch my young sister.' He got out of control in the police squad car and he kicked the window and broke the window,” said their father, Ahmad Adam, who added that Abed suffers from “bipolar disorder and severe manic depression.”

The following day, the family says FBI agents showed up at their business in Chicago and their homes in Lombard and Orland Park without search warrants.

The Chicago FBI would not comment.

“I think without a doubt there is a background. There has to be a background for this to escalate to this level and we don`t know yet why law enforcement went this far,” said Adam.

Adam has owned Crescent Foods, a poultry processing plant in Chicago for nearly 20 years.

Illinois State Police released this statement on the incident:

The incident initially began when an ISP Trooper observed Abed’s vehicle traveling southbound on Summit St in Oakbrook Terrace. Abed failed to use a turn signal when changing lanes and was clocked speeding on the Trooper’s moving radar. The Trooper initiated a traffic stop on Abed’s vehicle for the moving violations. The Trooper spoke with Abed, who provided a fictitious ID card from Arizona. The Trooper further investigated and learned that Abed had a revoked driver’s license and two warrants for his arrest. One warrant for domestic battery and a second warrant was for violating an order of protection. Abed was taken into custody and placed in the front seat of the Trooper’s vehicle.

The vehicle Abed was driving was a rental vehicle. There was not a secondary driver present that was listed on the rental agreement, which required the vehicle to be towed. There was a juvenile passenger in Abed’s vehicle. The juvenile had to be removed from the vehicle in order to tow it according to policy. The juvenile refused to comply with the Trooper’s direction, and in fact, locked herself in the vehicle, and she was subsequently arrested and charged accordingly. The passenger was physically removed from the vehicle and placed in handcuffs. While the Trooper was arresting the passenger, Abed began kicking the front windshield of the Trooper’s squad car, causing it to break. Drug paraphernalia was also located in the vehicle.

Abed was released on bond from the DuPage County Jail. He is due back in court on April 25th.